Brig 3/31--Long-billed Dowitcher, Wilson's Snipe, Snowy Egret, Purple Martin, Brown Thrasher

Snowy Egret

Easter, a rare Sunday off for Shari, and we headed down to Brig to see what shorebirds had come in and what ducks remained. The Gull Pond was the hot spot today. Yesterday, a Ruff had been sighted there, so naturally, thousands of dollars of optics were set up there, with 7 or 8 birders on the observation tower. I'm not a fan of the observation towers--I don't like being in crowded places where I can't look into my scope (if I even have room to set up my scope) because every movement by someone shakes the eye piece so that the distant little bird in the shimmer is even more impossible to see. Thanks, I'll find other ways to frustrate myself. 

Long-billed Dowitchers

Anyway, no one saw the Ruff today. It is probably somewhere on the refuge and no doubt will turn up tomorrow, in a flock of yellowlegs. But there were other new shorebirds to see--we finally got nice looks at the very large flock of Long-billed Dowitchers that have wintered there. Supposedly rare, there always seem to be LB Dowitchers somewhere in NJ in winter. I counted 22, but they were pretty far away and bunched together--someone else counted 32. I only need one. 

I can't tell you how many times I've gone looking for Wilson's Snipe this year. Actually, I could, I just don't feel like looking it up. This is like using the word "countless" when you just mean "a lot." There are very few things in this universe that are countless--atoms, molecules, grains of sand, the numbers themselves--otherwise, in principle, as the philosophers say, you can count anything. But this has nothing to do with snipe. There were Wilson's Snipe in the Gull Pond, which were fairly easy to see if you were up on the tower--so Shari told me after she climbed up there. But down on the edge of the pond they were much more difficult to find--you had to peer through the phragmites to find the cryptic bird--eventually one appeared in our scope, extremely difficult to make out, with its bill tucked into it feathers, but the "racing stripes" on its back clearly visible. There were five there, so I'm told. I only need one. 

Unexpected bird I should have expected: When we arrived there were Tree Swallows flying around the Visitor's Center and in with their twittering I heard the different "song" of Purple Martins which have returned and were investigating the martin houses in front of the center. I saw three. Probably more. I only need one. 

Out on the Wildlife Drive between markers 4 & 5 we came across a car backing up. We knew the birders in the car so we didn't think they were complete morons as we would strangers--they had heard that back at marker 4 2 Pectoral Sandpipers and a Stilt Sandpiper were being seen. We had obviously overlooked them in the flock of Greater Yellowlegs that we saw there. We weren't about to back up for them. Someone we don't know might think we were complete morons. 

However, at Marker 5 we notched our 4th year bird of the day--a Snowy Egret preening near the channel. After that it was pretty much waterfowl and Ospreys until we got to the upland portion of the trail where about 3/4 of a mile in Shari stopped the car because she thought she heard a vireo. Way too early for that kind of bird, but we listened and at first I thought it might be a chat until we realized that the songs were differing and were repeated twice. A check with Merlin confirmed that we had our first Brown Thrasher of the year, deep in the brush and not willing to show itself. 

5 year birds compensated for a short list of 42:

Canada Goose  150
Mute Swan  9
Northern Shoveler  125
American Black Duck  150
Green-winged Teal  60
Bufflehead  40
Hooded Merganser  3
Red-breasted Merganser  1
Ruddy Duck  25
Mourning Dove  3
Long-billed Dowitcher  22     
Wilson's Snipe  1     
Greater Yellowlegs  25     25+
Ring-billed Gull  2
Herring Gull  100
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Double-crested Cormorant  20
Snowy Egret  1
Great Egret  9
Great Blue Heron  6
Turkey Vulture  3
Osprey  12
Northern Harrier  1
Bald Eagle  1     3rd year?
Blue Jay  1
Fish Crow  15
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  1
Tree Swallow  6
Purple Martin  3
Carolina Wren  2
Brown Thrasher  1     
American Robin  2
House Finch  2
Dark-eyed Junco  2
White-throated Sparrow  8
Song Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  20
Common Grackle  1
Pine Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3
Northern Cardinal  2